Fullmoon´s changing
by Picaro
Summary: For Ryuke-chan. About how a young japanese orphan meets an american killer and how it´s going to affect his life.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: The usual... don't own them, don't have any rights on them, don't sue, don't have money,…bla,bla,bla.

For my Nagi-loving friend Ryuke–Chan aka Naoe. 

Full moon ´s changing

Chapter 1

"Demon-child!"

"Monster!"

"Kill it!!"

Stones were thrown. Many of them were hitting their goal- far too many. The small child with filthy rags as clothes ducked back, trying to evade the hurting missiles. Far too thin and fragile hands were raised in a failing attempt to protect a lost looking face. 

"Kill it! Kill it!" 

"Kill the devil!"

The shouts got louder, resounding in his ears. Soon, it seemed that the whole world was screaming at him, shrieking "Kill it!" with all its sweet, cheerful voices… 

Realizing that it was cornered, pale lips parted in a silent plea. ´Please let me live.´ Those words were never spoken, the beg for mercy never heard as a particularly big stone connected with his jaw, sending the little boy tumbling back and crashing into some old dustbins. 

"Hahaha! Look at him! The dirt has fallen into the dirt!" The boy who had thrown the stone cheered. Other voices followed his, cheering, laughing and snapping at him. 

"Serves him right!"

"That's still much too good for him!"

"Yeah! Demon-child!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

A devil's plea didn't deserve to be heard. The underfed brunette scrambled further back, desperately searching for any sort of shelter against the howling crowd but not finding it. By now, the other kid's attacks had become stronger. Not only stones were hurled at the fragile form, but also sharp pieces of broken bottles and even some smaller pieces of metal. The boy sat crouched down in a corner, not being able to run anymore. 

Tears stung in his eyes, just partially from pain. Why were they doing this to him? He hadn't done anything wrong. He had just wanted to make the little child a bit happier. He had never meant to attack it. He hadn't done anything wrong! A hard piece of rubbish collided with his thin arm, a sharp edge tearing open his soft, vulnerable skin. The boy cried out in pain- the tears in his eyes now visible. 

That made the horde of other children even more furious. 

"Hey, look! He cries!"

"Hahaha! Cry-baby! Cry-baby!"

"Ooh, has that hurt you? Will you now call your mommy? Too bad for you! Devils don't have a mommy!!"

The shouts continued, growing more and more vicious with every passing second. The boy crouched down even more, as much as he could, and tightly closed his large eyes. The other kids continued. After a particularly hard hit, he felt a stirring inside of him. _´No! Not again!´_ Pressing his eyes shut even tighter, the small boy started shivering as memories started to flood his young brain.

He could see that man again… It had been a bad man. He had hit Nagi and tried to do bad things to him. He had been a bad man. Different memories started to rise. The man screaming in pain as his body got torn into pieces.- like two invisible monsters had gotten hold of him. The sickening sound of ripping flesh and the nauseous smell of fresh blood. Suddenly he was alone in an alley, the ground flooded with fresh blood. Inside of him were the devils, laughing at their deeds and telling him that he had deserved this. Nagi knew that they were wrong. Nobody deserved what they did. Nobody.

Now, they were there again, screaming in his head to lash them, to let them get rid of these annoying brats…allow them to rip their soft bodies apart. Nagi screamed. Not out of pain, but of fear of what he might do to the others. Nobody deserved that!

The kids just kept screaming. Picking at their seemingly defenseless pray, most of them missing the slight change in the air and the sudden movements in the dust. All of them failed to notice the danger that they were in.

"Kill the devil!"

Just as hell itself were to break loose, Lucifer decided to interfere, mixing himself into the players. A new soul waited to be taken. 

Waiting for the final stone that would have triggered it all, Nagi froze. It never came. Hearing a surprised gasp, Nagi looked up.

And froze in shock.

~ ~ ~ ~ End Chapter 1 ~ ~ ~ ~

…Please review? ^^**


	2. rising moon

Disclaimers: You'd know if they were mine.

TuR (the usual ramble): Yep, it's me again!^^ Sorry for taking so long to update and the crappy formatting of the first chapter. (See what happens if you forget to use the preview…)^.^* I'll do better now. Hope it didn't get too OOC. Please review! ^^

´ thoughts´

/Flashback/ 

Fullmoon's changing

Chapter 2

There, right behind the boy who was the leader, was another person. An adult. 

Nagi gaped wide-eyed at the imposing figure. It was a man, seemingly business class, definitely too tall to be Japanese, and, all in all, best described as dark. Right now, he was holding the outstretched hand of the leader of the other kids, keeping him firmly from finishing the move he'd started to make. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, Nagi could make out that all of the other children had also frozen. Even the devils which had been raging like crazy behind his temple only seconds before had stopped, like every other movement was being swallowed up in the air of controlled silence that he seemed to radiate.

For a couple of minutes, nobody moved. None of the kids dared to, the shadow of the stranger looming threatening over them. That he had neither spoken a word, nor even moved since his sudden appearing, didn't help the situation. 

Nagi flinched as the stone which had originally been meant for him clattered loudly on the ground, the sound it made seeming to be having much more volume than it should have. The boy, whom the stranger was still holding, whimpered slowly. Sizing him up with a cold look, the stranger released him. Immediately the boy drew back, holding the place where the man had touched him as if he'd been burned. The other kids also backed away. 

"Hey Mister, what's that supposed to mean?"

"You hurt him! You're a mean man!"

Internally, Nagi´s devils snorted. ´Hurt him? Even I see that he didn't!´ "You're a bad man! Go away!" "Yeah!" "Go away!" "Go away!" The gaijin didn't react at all. Like some sort of specter of revenge, he just stood there, looming over them, watching them. Waiting for their move. Nagi felt a shiver go down his spine. That man was scary. Obviously he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Despite their calls and shouting, the other kids had backed more and more away, now obviously ready to run at the slightest hint of movement of him. He still didn't move. He just stood there, looking at them as if he could see their very souls and dismissed them as worthless. ´He's really scary.´

"You bad man!"

The lanky boy, who seemed to be sort of their leader, threw a small stone at him. It was too small to even scratch the person, if it had hit, but, at the same moment, Nagi thought that it was inevitably going to hit him, the man dodged with the effortless elegance of a giant cat. A murmur spread through the mob of children. "Devil." "Devil." "He called a devil to help him!" "He's going to kill us!" Within seconds, the side street was empty of human beings, except for the two of them.

Seemingly for the first time, the stranger laid his eyes on the frail Japanese boy. Nagi couldn't keep himself from shivering at those piercing eyes. Automatically, he lowered his own ones. The small boy stiffened as he heard the sounds of the other coming nearer, his midnight-blue eyes grown wide. ´He's coming closer!´ For a crazy moment, Nagi feared that the man had been coming to kill him. ´Nonsense! Why would he rescue me if he wants to kill me?!´ ´Maybe he didn't want to rescue you, but wanted to get rid of any witnesses.´ Quickly, Nagi pushed the nagging, small voice in the back of his head away. That was nonsense! Why was he still alive if the man truly wanted to kill him? The tears threatened to come back into his eyes.

The sound of somebody kneeling down on the rubble in front of him ripped Nagi out of his pondering. If he held his head like that, he could see the tips of black, polished leather shoes on the ground in front of him. Preparing for the worst, the underfed street kid closed his eyes, hoping that whatever was going to come would come fast. The silence stretched. Neither of the two moved.

After what seemed to be an eternity and was, in reality, not even a few minutes, the small brunette opened his eyes again, realizing with surprise that the man wasn't going to hurt or attack him in any way. Slowly and almost fearfully, Nagi lifted his head, looking for the first time at who was really in front of him. 

The man was definitely a gaijin. Sleek muscles were rippling under the fine fabric of his white suite, giving hints of a fit body underneath it. He was tall, as Nagi realized, even in the crouched down position he was sitting in, that was obvious. Short, somehow unruly jet-black hair, a few stubborn strands hanging into his eyes, and a young, yet authoritarian, elegant face. His eyes, Nagi deliberately ignored. Past experiences had taught him that peoples liked to have their eyes stared into least of all. 

"You're avoiding my eyes."

Nagi jerked up at the sound of that deep, velvet-like voice. It sounded controlled, not giving a hint of anything he might be planning, though, at the same time, it was also reassuring. It was the sort of voice which one associated with ancient, all-knowing deities. Deep, resonating, knowing…yet also somehow young, without a real age to determine. Such a voice didn't have to threaten anybody, neither did it have to tempt. It simply was. That was already more than enough. It was a voice to which one wasn't disobedient; the owner of that voice wouldn't accept that. Slowly, nearly against his will, Nagi looked into his eyes.

What he found there was surprising to the intimidated boy. Instead of burning red, a pair of caramel-brown eyes were looking at him, hidden beneath a pair of thin, frameless glasses. They were shining with an unreadable expression, stripping the boy in front of him to his bare soul and sizing it up. Yet, they could not be described as unfriendly… 

Just a bit too experienced, too knowing. As if they were seeing more than they should. Still, the person in front of him was just a normal man. Not a demon who'd come to haunt him. The devils in his heads whispered that they didn't like that man, that he reminded them of a wild cat on the prowl… a beast of prey he definitely was. That man was lacking the sort of submissiveness that many well-to-do businessmen carried. Suddenly realizing that the man was sizing him up as well, Nagi blushed a bit, ashamed of what he must see. 

"You're bleeding."

Nagi stared wide-eyed at the man, not really believing that he had spoken a second time to him. Somebody like him… That had to be a mistake. None of the higher business men would ever lower himself that much as too speak with a simple kid on the street. The man didn't seem to care about that. Taking out a handkerchief from one of his pockets, he carefully reached out and started to clean the hurt boy's wounds slowly and with great patience. Nagi suppressed his instinct to flinch at the touch, watching the stranger's actions with disbelief. 

"That should do it."

Balancing on the temples of his feet, the gaijin drew slowly back and eyed the fragile kid in front of him once again, sizing the damage that had been done. Seemingly satisfied with the outcome, he stood up and turned to go.

"You should take care of yourself better next time." 

With that, he walked away. He simply left Nagi there like that! To say that Nagi was flabbergasted was an understatement. Standing up, he could do nothing else than to stare wide-eyed after that man. Though he must have heard Nagi move, he didn't turn or look back. 

Even after the man had vanished from his visual range, Nagi still stood there and looked after him for a long time, his mind forming only one word. ´Masaka…´

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

It was not quite dawn when Crawford came back from another _mission_. It had gone off smoothly, as always, when the tall American was sent to eliminate somebody. Of course, Crawford was a pro after all.

Not really wanting to return home right then, the young man decided to settle on one of the randomly-placed benches in the area. It had been a slight surprise to be sent after a simple drug dealer who out just for himself. Estet didn't like frauds, especially when they were trying to betray them. So, Crawford had been sent to kill the guy and fetch the missing material. It had turned out that the guy had been dumber than expected. He hadn't even tried to get rid of the traitorous evidence by selling it. The idiot had taken it himself. 

Now Crawford was carrying an inconspicuous attaché case containing cocaine in the price range of several thousand dollars and an unobtrusive handgun inside of it. Personally, the young American couldn't understand why people were risking their life for something which would ruin it anyway. Crawford despised any sort of dependences, no matter if it's drugs, alcohol, stimulants, cigarettes, or anything else, and, if it weren't for Estet giving him the mission, he would have never accepted it.

The feeling of another presence next to him ripped his thoughts away. Realizing that somebody had had the guts to sit next to him, a slight frown appeared on his face for a second. As far as he had seen, most of the Japanese didn't like to endure the company of a _gaijin_. This perked his interest; the young, American man turned his head to look at the intruder. An elegant eyebrow rose at what he saw.

On the other side of the bench was sitting none other than the small street urchin from before. Though his dark eyes were wide with uncertainty, he didn't make the expression as if he were to run from the American any soon, like the other kids had. However, he was also keeping some sort of a safety distance between them. Slightly bemused Crawford wondered what to think about this development of things. 

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Being hit by his unnerving gaze once again, Nagi didn't know what to do. Not that he had known what to do the first time. He simply had had the feeling that he couldn't let the stranger vanish from his life like that. 

Now, when he was thinking about it, simply sitting down next to him had been sheer insanity. Now he had even been caught staring! Knowing that he was probably destroying whatever little chance he had left with the man, Nagi still found himself unable to stop staring at those eyes. Inside he felt a bit giddy at his actions, as if he, as an ordinary human, had managed to attract the interest of some legendary, ancient deity. Suddenly realizing that the comparison wasn't that far from the truth, Nagi felt a slight blush rise onto his cheeks as the gaijin rose on of his fine black eyebrows. 

Who was he anyhow, compared to that tall, well-built man in his white suit that he wore like a warrior his armor? Just a dirty, little boy with big eyes, much too thin limbs, and only some old rags on his far too small body. Becoming suddenly, awfully aware of his shabby looks, Nagi finally lowered his eyes, not being able to bear the other's look any longer.

´How stupid of me…´ His heart dropped as he felt the other turning away from him again. ´After all, I'm just an orphan.`

The silence between them became awful. Finally deciding to do something, Nagi scratched together all of what was left of his courage and mumbled. "Thank you." Positive that he hadn't been heard, he jerked his head up when a deep voice asked. "For what?" Looking up, he saw that the man had turned again and was now studying him with a slightly curious expression. So he _had_ heard him. Flushing deeply, Nagi quickly averted his eyes. "For what you did before… Arigato. They probably would have killed me if it hadn't been for you." God, Nagi felt so foolish right now. Not noticing his confused state of mind, the man just tilted his head a bit, seemingly contemplating what he had said. After what seemed to be an eternity, he looked at the boy again. "You're welcome."

After that, they fell into silence again. Crawford wasn't quite sure about what to make of this. He hadn't seen the boy in any of his visions, so he was naturally quite careful with his actions. The American had learned at a young age that most surprises were of a bad nature. Nagi on the other hand, was getting nervous. This man was giving him the creeps! Right now, the only thing he could think of was how to keep the man from leaving. ´Maybe if I continue speaking…´

Saying the first thing that came into his mind, the small Japanese boy blurted out. "You're speaking perfect Japanese. Where are you from?" "America." Nagi sweatdropped. That didn't turn out as easy as he had hoped. "…And why are you here?" The man didn't answer. "…Is there money in the suitcase?" The black suitcase was still resting untouched between them. 

"No. Just drugs and my gun." The boy didn't seem to be surprised. Instead, he asked. "The same you where carrying in your pocket before?" He had caught a brief glimpse of it when the man had crouched down in front of him. The man just nodded. To his slight surprise, that just made the boy more excited. "Are you part of the mafia then?" Crawford couldn't keep his lips from curling into a small smile at that question. "No, I'm not." "Oh." The boy looked disappointed. Not even three seconds later, his head darted up again. "Yakuza?" The American had to keep himself from chuckling. "Also no. I'm just a simple, hired killer."

Surprising enough, the boy didn't seem disturbed at all at that. Instead he just looked at the man, his expression blank for a moment. "…Show it to me. Please teach me how to kill."

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

Nagi's eyes widened in surprise at his own words. Did he really say that out loud? The man seemed as surprised as Nagi himself. "Why?" Nagi blinked at that question. Why? That was a good question. ´Why do I want to stay with this man?´ Nagi had no answer for that. He simply wanted to. He was the first person to show something akin to care to the street boy. 

Nobody else ever had. Whenever somebody had looked into the shadows of the street, they just saw some dirty street kids and beggars. People who certainly didn't deserve better. But this man had looked there, and he had seen _him_. Nagi was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly missed the man's answer. 

"No." At the sound of that word, a cold shiver ran down Nagi's spine. /No… Don't touch me you dirty thing!…Go away!…Don't you dare to try to come back!!…/ Nagi suddenly lost all power to protest.

For an eerie moment, they both sat still on the bench, each one absorbed in his own thoughts; then the man stood up, announcing that he had to go. Nagi watched him leave with glassy eyes. He was still paralyzed. ´There he goes… Couldn't expect him to say something else. After all, I'm just some street kid and he-´ His thoughts got ripped apart as cold determination flooded his mind. ´No!´ No, he wouldn't be pushed aside that easily. He would fight. Having his mind sat, Nagi stood up and started following him. 

A bit over an hour later, Nagi was totally exhausted and ready to break down. He had been following the American the whole time, not caring if the man noticed his presence or not. Though Nagi was sure that the gaijin knew, the man had just kept on walking. Setting a fast pace, the small Japanese had difficulties keeping track of him, but he had not budged from his decision for a second. Now, he couldn't continue anymore. Flopping down on the sidewalk, Nagi could only stare after him, wishing for him to turn around. 

He didn't.

The man with no name just kept walking, not wasting any thought on the boy who was following him. Gritting his teeth, Nagi collected his last reserves of strength to will his body to stand up and continue walking.

He didn't get further than a few steps before he flopped down on the cold asphalt again, panting and unable to do anything than to lie there and breath. The sharp gasps were stinging in his throat and he could feel a wave of nausea rise in his stomach. ´No! Not now! Not-!´ 

Blinking away the tears that were never wished for, Nagi stared at the sky. Up in an uncaring heaven, a pale moon shone down on him. Its pale shade reminded Nagi of those of bleached bones. As the time went by, he started to wish that he could just stay there on the ground until he died. The American was surely far away by now .

´I'm sorry to have wasted your time like that. Gomen…´

Just as the small boy was finally ready to give up, a pair of gentle hands wrapped around him, swiping him up in one swift movement. Surprised, Nagi opened his eyes, inhaling sharply at the sight of the American staring down on him. 

Realizing that it had been him who'd picked him up, Nagi's midnight-blue eyes widened in disbelief. He didn't know what to say. Hell, he'd be happy if he just knew what to think! He'd thought that the man had already forgotten him… The man just stared down at him, his strange, brown eyes wearing an unreadable expression. Nagi found himself unable to do anything but stare back, not able to break the eye-contact even if he'd wanted to. 

Suddenly losing his interest in the kid that was cradled in his arms, Crawford looked up. Sizing up the stars, his amber-brown gaze was flashing with less compassion than he'd shown with Nagi. As if they held no compassion for the world or those who were living in it. 

For some time, everything froze. Then, a voice like dark velvet cut trough the silence. 

"The moon's rising. Soon it will be Fullmoon."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

End Chapter

So, any comments to he progressing this far? Comments or criticism, on with it! (But no flaming!) Tell me what you think of it, and you'll have a very happy Picaro!^^

Thanks for reviewing too: Ryuke-chan (glad you like it!), sTrAwbErYfAnSz (working, working…^^), VOM (thanks for making me notice!), SilverMist (^.^), Kimberly (you know why! ^^) and Lady Dragon for telling me that the link was disabled (Arigatou!).


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